Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Today I'm calling out the shameless and despicable greed of our major banks, as reported across several media outlets yesterday. These financial giants have shown nothing but contempt for the Australian people, particularly in their disgraceful decision to slash term deposit rates. Right now, while Australian families are barely keeping their heads above water, struggling under the crushing weight of relentless interest rate hikes, what does the Commonwealth Bank do? After raking in a jaw-dropping $9.48 billion profit, the CBA has had the audacity to kick its customers when they are down. It was the first to slash term deposit rates by up to 50 basis points, and NAV and Westpac were quick to follow, to jump on the bandwagon, slashing theirs by 80 basis points.

The hardest hit are our self-funded retirees. They rely on term deposits to support themselves, and now their livelihoods are being squeezed even further by this decision. The big banks are shamelessly fattening their wallets at the expense of everyday Australians, who are already drowning in the soaring cost-of-living crisis. It's high time these banks stopped their relentless profiteering and started to show some decency by supporting rather than squeezing the very communities they pretend to serve. You are not our friends, I bet you'll go and give yourselves a big pay rise.

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